More painting

Here are some pictures of the new paint color. It is kindof hard to tell the color in the photos, but it looks really good. It really complements the color of the roof.
They got quite a bit primed on this side of the house today. They couldn't work on the roof anymore because the winds were so strong. It was so strong out of the south it was even making it hard to paint the north side of the house.

Matthew has been extra tired today. He seems to feel great, just really tired. I got a catalog in the mail this week called Birthday Express. It has tons of different themes for birthday parties. It came at just the right time to plan Matthew's 1st birthday party. I'm so excited! I can't wait to have it, even though a part of me doesn't want him to grow up. Lucky boy is going to end up having 2 parties because of the way his birthday falls.

Phil said to tell you all that he is tired and he painted alot! Have a great night!

Pictures

Our neighbor dog came streaking over to our house tonight and made the cattle run by barking at them.
Then she barked and called them all back. It's really funny to watch. Peppermint was able to call them in and make them leave also. I miss her sooooo much. Anyway, we think that our neighbor is mean to her because she flinches when you go to pet her and when I told her it was ok to be here tonight and tried to pet her, she crawled up on her belly. It makes me so sad. I wish we could adopt her.

This weekend Phil was honking at me to hurry up and all the cattle came running. They honk the tractor horn when they are coming to feed them hay, so I think they thought it was lunchtime in a different location!
Here is a picture showing the progress Phil is making painting the top board under the eaves. It's been primed. It will be white in the end also.
Here is a picture of the back where Jeff and Phil scraped and primed. It looks alot better uh? I can't wait to be free of that pea green.
This is a close up of the dormer in back. I thought that the roof was done, but the flashing hadn't been done yet. James took alot of time cutting it to go around all the cool shaker shingles. I'm so impressed with how it looks. It really sets off the shaker shingles.
It's is a picture from the corner.
This is a close up of the underneath of the eaves. We are painting them the same color blue as the dormers. We'll paint all the eaves blue and the porch's ceiling blue as well. It looks really good.

Matthew had a great afternoon. One of the daycare workers took the day off and no one thought to let me know that only Bailey would be working. She already had 10 to watch so Matthew couldn't go. I asked my mom if she could watch him and she went one better and helped at the daycare! Matthew I think really enjoyed it. He showed off by riding on the tiny tots merry go round. A friend of mine took pictures on her camera for me. When I get them I'll post some.

Lazy

I figured that I better get off my lazy duff and publish something! Well, although I haven't done much packing or cleaning, like I feel I should, I have done alot of internet research for jobs and haven't come up with much. I feel so torn about what to do! It will come, and I have time, so I'll wait and see.

Meanwhile, although I haven't told many people Phil is moving, it has moved like wildfire that we are leaving and people are now asking my boss when I'm moving. Her boss found out and was starting to look for someone to replace me! Hello...I haven't quit yet! So in light of the fact the whole area knows, I'm very glad that we have someone to stay here over the summer. I don't want people to mess with the house and they would. Finally today Phil got to talk to someone who is actually competent and was approved for his apartment. Thank goodness. Who knows how long it would have took otherwise. He takes it May 1st and we'll probably start moving him up either then or that weekend.

While he was finding that out Matthew and I were off getting Foxy situated at the groomers and getting groceries. Phil has since picked Foxy up and says she looks good, just borderline too skinny. Poor girl. She was diagnosed with cancer of the lymphnoid's last summer and was given 6 months to a year to live. So far she is doing awesome! She has lost weight, breathes heavier, but otherwise in good spirits. Her joints hurt her in the cold, but we got some good arthritis pills to off-set that. With any luck, she'll fly by that year mark and live happily for longer. She's been an awesome dog. I was very lucky when I was able to adopt her in San Diego. I have my cousin Christina to thank for that. Well, that's all I know for the moment. As the day progresses maybe I'll have more to post.

Spring surprises alive

Well, if you use a little imagination, realize the dark brown stripes are on faces, the light colored ovals are ears, you'll realize that you are looking at about probably 6 or 7 baby rabbits. Since I wrote about them they have grown alot! They are so cute! They were hopping all over when Phil carefully pealed the protective layer back. We decided to make sure they were still alive. I realize that they will become the animals that eat up my garden and potentially my flowers, but I just can't kill them. It just doesn't seem right. Still I'll be very glad to get them out of my flower garden!

Yesterday Matthew seemed extra tired and he still seems not up to speed, but better. He ate a little better today. Last night he kept waking up to cry, which made for very, very tired parents today. In the morning we took a "family nap."

Yesterday the weather did not permit more to get done on the house. Today was a nice day till closer to 5 when it started to sprinkle again. Our neighbor came over and had Phil go with him to repair the fence that Phil's car munched when he crashed due to the bad road conditions in January. The neighbor happens to be the same one who's Great Grandma built our house. Phil got to meet his father who actually lived here for awhile. Our neighbor is cousins with the man who sold the house to us. He also walked around the house and told us that he really liked what we are doing with the house and said that the peak should have been put on the house a long time ago. We aren't fixing up the house to please the relatives, but it's nice to know that they like what we're doing with the place. All the family members I've met seem to be rather sentimental about the place. It's a very tight knit neighborhood up here, outsiders have to earn respect and we have done so I think.

Long Days

Roof progress...

More detail on north side. The east and north sides now have glass windows again in the attic.

Matthew chewing on his infant toothbrush in such a way it looks like he has a big blue tongue! He'd have it really sucked in so it was flat until I took the picture and then he'd let in out some.


We have had several busy days. Yesterday I planted most of the irises that I received last year as well as the tiger lilies I bought. I can't wait to see all the flowers bloom this year. I just hope I come home at the right times so that I can see them. Meanwhile, while I planted flowers, Phil helped the roofers. Around noon they had to knock off because of sheet lightning.

Today Phil and I took Matthew to his last eye appointment. The doctor was satisfied that his incision was well on it's way to healing and said he doesn't need to come back till next year for an annual exam. When we got home Matthew crashed and took a long nap. Phil continued helping with the roof. Even though it misted/sprinkled, the roofers persisted and got the north side done. Only 1/2 a roof to go. The main roofer is pretty discouraged with how long it is taking to put it on and all the special cuts it takes to make the pieces fit. We have a tough roof.

Well, I got home from work tonight and started feeding Matthew. Halfway through his usual meal he kept shaking his head no, and didn't want to eat more. Then he made the unmistakable movement in his neck that you know is going to end in you being covered in puke. Yep, he puked all over himself and the floor. So we stripped him and gave him his bath. Within an hour he was getting really tired, so I tried to feed him some milk before bed and you bet, he puked all over me, himself, and the couch. So we stripped him, and stripped me, changed him, and put him in bed. He has no other symptoms of being sick other then a runny nose, so... Poor guy. Hopefully he is done throwing up now. I now have a large load of dirty clothes washing since I don't want his vomit to stain.

I hope all of you are having a better evening then we are!

Spring surprises 2

I forgot to tell about another spring surprise. While weeding my flower bed I discovered that a mama rabbit thought it was the perfect spot to dig a hole (right in the middle of the bed) and "plant" her newborn babies. They gave me a heck of a shock as I didn't realize there was a hole with babies in it. Clever mama rabbits cover them well. They are very tiny, about the size of a tiny mouse I guess. They are so tiny they are still hairless with eyes shut. Hopefully the mama won't be to put off by the human smell and feed them.

Well, that's all my fun facts for the day!

Spring surprises

I love spring for all the surprises it gives. Today I decided that I had to get out and weed my flower bed so Phil didn't try and mow off any more of my sprouts. And low and behold I had lots of grape hyacinths that I didn't even know I had planted! I worked with a therapist at the hospital that had me come over last year and she weeded stuff out of her amazing flower beds for me to plant at my new house. Hyacinths must have been one of the things I got. All the daylilies and irises that I planted last year are springing forth. I planted 3 siberian irises today I ordered called Roaring Jelly. I thought the name was awesome, the price good, and the color beautiful. I can hardly wait to see it grow. Meanwhile one of my new geranium plants bloomed and it is a very pretty half rosy red half cream colored flower. I just love gardening in spring. During the heat of August not as much. Hopefully, either tonight or tomorrow, I'll get to plant all the irises that Phil's old captain's wife, Cindy gave me from when she thinned the irises in her yard. I believe alot of them are still in good shape. I'll find out.

Matthew has had a good time so far getting to bear crawl around the yard. He doesn't bear crawl much in the house, so I guess he didn't want to feel the grass on his knees or maybe he thinks that's the all-terain way to get around. Poor guy is fairly tired out, but he doesn't want to give in to sleep. He is in his swing, shaking his head, mumbling to himself, with his eyes half shut! His dad hasn't decided if he's keeping him while I go to work or if he's going to daycare. Currently I hear Phil beebopping around the yard on the mower. He didn't get it all mowed yesterday.

I also hear the sound of the saw cutting more of our roof. They were able to work yesterday. Phil helped them paint the rest of the dormers and trim around the roof so that they could continue with the roofing. We weren't sure how the weather would be today, but it's perfect. It started cloudy, but now it's warm, still, and sunny. Just gorgeous weather. I hope that they can get another 1/4th of the roof done today. Our weathervane is in and I can't wait to see it up. Phil and I have been talking about replacing the damaged window in the living room and all three in the dining room. But we can't replace the ones in the dining room until that section can be lifted up. Of course if the section was lifted so the windows could close properly, the windows in there might work better!

Phil was called in to see the commander today. Even though he is on leave they made him go in uniform. I don't know how that went yet, but I guess it's got something to do with the fact Phil has been pushing for more leave. Hopefully that went well. He is not optimistic that they are going to let him take vacation time to go to California anytime soon, but maybe. In any case, he'll be living in the apartment for about a month before I'm out for the summer and can join him. I'll maybe just stay for the summer and come back to our house for the next school year. We still haven't decided what we'll do. All I know is I can't plant a garden this year. Everything has to be able to take care of it's self.

Finally, tomorrow I think we can stay home...

3 days. 3 days of driving to the greater Kansas City area. We are so sick of driving up there. In a normal year I maybe get up there once or twice a year. Yesterday we went back and tried to look at a bigger apartment in the 1st apartment complex we looked at. They refused to show us anything saying the carpet hadn't been cleaned. We were a little steamed considering they promised if we drove back up they'd have the apartment ready to show. It made it very easy for us to scratch them off the short list we had! Then we went back to the third complex and actually got to see their apartments. We liked a basement one, but I was reluctant to sign a lease without seeing the houses. So we left and said we would be back today if the houses didn't looking promising. Well, I really screwed that up because the houses were worse then the previous houses. Well, considering we only went in 1 of the 6 houses, I should say that the neighborhoods were worse. The one we did go into was the very big Victorian we thought looked beautiful on the internet. And we were right, it was beautiful. But in need of some serious work that we wouldn't be able to afford to do, but wow. What a house. It actually had a butler's stairs that led to the third floor. Both the first and second floors had 14 foot ceilings. It was obvious that the people who built the house were very rich. It sits on a huge lot. The house surprisingly hadn't been stripped of the beautiful woodwork and fancy carved wood fireplaces. I really wish we had the time to fix it. I've never seen anything as cool as that house. In fact, now I'm kicking myself for not bringing my camera. I don't know if the agent would have let me take pictures, but I sure would have tried. So today we drove all the way back up to sign a lease on the basement apartment so Phil would have a place to stay. Now we just have to hope that the rental clearance goes through before he starts work at the end of the week. I have to say the agent that helped us was very good. It was in no way shape or form his fault we had such price limitations.

Meanwhile while the parents were exhausted from getting home at 10 on Friday, midnight on Saturday and being up by 6 or 7am Sat. and Sun., Matthew was having a great time hanging out with the grandparents Sat. and Sun. I think they probably spoil him real good and he's getting old enough to twist them very well around his little finger. Sorry Mom, but you know it's true! I was glad he could stay with them because as much time as we spent in the car this weekend, I think he'd have been real grumpy.

Well, I better go and get some rest. Tomorrow we have alot we need to get done around this house. Dormer windows we need to paint (couldn't today because of the wind, grrrr), dishes to do, boxes to pack, laundry. Sigh, it just never ends.

Another day of pounding the pavement

Yesterday we pounded the pavement all day looking at apartments with short term leases and houses for sale. Wow, the houses in our price range are horrific! HORRIFIC. Talking most are deep deep in the getto. Example, one looked wonderful on the outside and on the inside it was extremely dark, extremely dirty, the railing for the stairs was hanging off the wall, the carpet...don't make me describe the carpet, and there was bags of garbage by the front door. That was all it took for me to decide no way in hell. And by the way, that was all in just the foyer. We never even saw the upstairs, bedrooms, or bathroom. I think that the fact I'm so still scarred this morning, I'm going to be scarred for quite awhile. We found one in a better neighborhood that was really really cute until you got to the basement and second floor and then it just got weird and we aren't prepared for weird. We found another that might have been perfect, but unluckily it went under contract right before we saw it. We are going back up today to look but I am not holding my breathe that the $10,000 increase in price will make much difference. I'm starting to think I'll stay here and stick Phil in a 1 bedroom apartment. The 2 apartments we liked yesterday have ponds they stock every spring with bass and the like, so yeah! Got my vote. Fishing with the bug on weekends without a need for a license. Speaking of Matthew, he was so good yesterday. He mostly rode in his carseat all day and if he wasn't in it he was in places I refused to let him touch the floor so the poor guy couldn't do much playing and crawling around. Lucky for him, he gets to stay home with his grandparents. If only I was so lucky. I guess I should get used to it. This is what my weekends are to become. Packing up and driving 2 hours to the city to be with my husband. It could be worse, I know. At least there is shopping. We get to do a little of that today. Yesterday we ate lunch with Auntie. We had a good time. We got to eat on the plaza. I love the plaza even though I feel out of place because I'm not rich. It is always packed no matter the season or hour or day. Must be nice to have time to shop all day every day. Well, in light of everything I've already wrote, what happened the rest of the week isn't so interesting. In short, we have been preparing to look at homes and apartments and I have had an earache for a week and now it seems I have a cold. Lovely. Well, I better go pack the bug and shower myself so we're ready to hit the pavement again.

Windy

It was and is extremely windy today. I hear the wind was gusting along at 40 mph. All I know is every time I tried to go through the front door the wind shoved me away from the door. Due to the wind, roofing was impossible. They finished trimming out our new stairway door and put in our new kitchen window. Yea! One window with a screen that actually works! Cool.

Yesterday I woke up with back troubles that ended up with me in lots of pain last night so I was forced by my husband to go to the chiropractor today. It helped some. Dr. "Doolittle" said that I have to bring Matthew with me when ever I come now so he can see him, so he was glad I didn't leave him at home. He also was sure to tell Matthew how sorry he was that he had a crazy grandpa. (Family-doctor joke, not meant literally.) I forgot to mention that yesterday when Matthew was outside he demonstrated how he could crawl up the front steps, which means I'm really glad we have a door we can close going to the stairs.

Friday we are going apartment hunting and perhaps house hunting. It should be interesting! This will happen of course if we aren't blown away before then.